Feeding apparatus for gas-retorts



No. 14,996. PATENTED JUNE 3, 1856. N. AUBIN.

APPARATUS FOR MAKING GAS.

a aeac-aao A T FFTCE.

N. AUBIN, OF ALBANY, NEW YORK.

FEEDING- APPARATUS FOR GAS-RETOR'IS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 14.996, dated June 3, 1856.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, N. AUBIN, of Albany, in the county of Albany and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Generating Gas and for other Purposes andI do hereby declare that the same are described and represented in the following specifications and drawings.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my improvements I will proceed to describe their construction and use referring to the drawings in which the same letters indicate like parts in each of the figures.

Figure 1, is an elevation representing a retort provided with my improvements cut perpendicularly through the center. 2, is a perspective view of the vessel containing the materials for making gas, and the inner vessel or weight which expels the materials.

The nature of my invention consists in a vessel provided with a serrated edge, or otherwise, to contain rosin, grease, or other substances, which are solid, or viscid, when cold: and are softened or liquefied by heat; which vessel may be provided with legs to stand in the retort, or suspended from the top of it, so as not to come in contact with it: which vessel is provided with an interior vessel, or weight, fitted so as nearly to fill its interior, and arranged to rest upon the materials in the first vessel, and made of sufficient weight to force said materials over the edge of said first vessel, gradually as they are melted, or rendered more liquid, by being heated; so as to furnish a regular supply of said materials to the gas-making process going on in the retort. Also in making a groove in the upper edge of the retort to contain some fusible alloy, which will melt at a temperature below that which is required to make gas, so that it will pack the connection between the retort and its cover, which is provided with a perpendicular edge, or flange to dip into the fusible alloy in the groove above mentioned.

In the accompanying drawings the section of a metallic retort is represented at A, provided with a flange B, by which it. may be supported in masonry or otherwise. The flange B, is made in the form represented and joins the retort a little below the top, so as to form a trough around it to receive the flange C of the cover D of the retort, which cover is provided with a handle E, so that it may be conveniently removed and replaced as required. To pack the joint between the retort and its cover the trough F is filled with a fusible alloy of bismuth, lead and tin which will melt at a temperature of about 212 degrees Fahrenheit, or such other composition as will melt at a temperature below that required to make gas and which will not readily evaporate; and to prevent the oxidation of the alloy I cover it with a layer of lamp black or some other substance which will answer the purpose. The depth of the trough F, must be in proportion to the pressure which is to be resisted by the alloy so as to prevent the escape of the generated. The retort A is provided with an escape pipe G to which the pipe may be connected that conducts the gas to its destination.

H, is a metal or earthen vessel placed in the retort A and supported by the legs I, I, so as not to come in contact with the retort, or it may be suspended from. the top if preferred. This vessel is filled with the materials from which the gas is to be made in a solid or viscid state, and as they are melted or rendered more fluid the inner vessel or weight J, which is made so as to nearly fill the vessel H, and rests upon the materials in it, forces them over the edge of the vessel H, through the scores K, K,(provided for that purpose) in small streams or drops which fall upon the bottom of the retort and are converted into gas. The weight J, is provided with a tube L, in the center which traverses on the standard M fastened in the vessel H by which it may be removed and replace when necessary.

The above described apparatus having been constructed substantially as described, the vessel H may be filled with rosin, grease tar or other similar solid or viscid materials from which gas is made, or a mixture of them, and which melt or liquefy on being heated; and the weight J placed upon them; as the retort is heated they melt and are forced over the scores K, K by the weight J so as to supply the gas making process gradually and regularly with the materials used as they are needed, without care or attention from the attendant.

As the weight J descends and becomes partially immersed in the melted matter it loses part of its weight, and therefore it does not press the material in the vessel so hard against the bottom but allows it to melt more slowly and thereby supply the materials more uniformly and thus the apparatus is self regulating as well as self supplying which is a great advantage which it possesses over other gas making apparatus.

The reason Why the above described operation regulates itself is that rosin is a very bad conductor of heat and melts but with difiicultythe portion of it which is in actual contact with the Vessel containing it, being the only part which melts fast; but as the said vessel is cooled on the inside by the melting process (it being known that liquids require alarge quantity of free caloric which becomes latent) and on the outside is separated from the heated retort by a space in which flows a strong current of newly generated gas, both these circumstances form a controlling cause, to moderate the action of the heat radiated from the retort and prevent the too sudden melting of the rosin, thereby regulating the operation. If a metal, such as lead for example, were introduced into the vessel H it would not operate as above described, for lead being a good conductor of heat, the whole of it would be heated to the melting point in a comparatively short time, and then liquefied almost entirely at once.

From what precedes it is evident that my vessel J requires no separate controlling agency, and when once adjusted with regard to weight will operate without change in that respect thereafterthe greater or shorter length of the legs of the vessel 1-I being a sufiicient means to regulate the time necessary for melting a given quantity of rosin, taking into account the nature of the furnace used.

hen the materials in the vessel H are exhausted which may be readily ascertained by a cock placed on some convenient part of the apparatus, the cover D may be re moved and the vessel H taken out and another similar vessel previously prepared put in its place, and the cover replaced, when the process will proceed as before. The joint between the retort and its cover being formed or packed by the fusible alloy in the trough F which forms no obstacle to the removal or replacing of the cover, but allows exposed and may take fire and endanger the premises.

As the materials are melted inside of the retort the disagreeable smell arising from them is avoided, so that the apparatus may be arranged in kitchens for private use; and being so simple and so easily managed it may be attended and operated by an ordinary servant, with less skill than is required to cook the victuals properly for a family.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent in the above described apparatus for making gas is The vessel H to contain the materials from which the gas is to be made, in combination with the inner vessel, or weight J, arranged so as to gradually expel the contents of the vessel H as they are melted or rendered more fluid by the heat of the retort, and thereby afford a regular supply of said materials to the gas-making process going on in the retort, substantially as described.

I N. AUBIN Witnesses CHAS. P. WVANNALL, J. DENNIS, Jr. 

